


Fire

by leanermina



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 04:51:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13990845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leanermina/pseuds/leanermina
Summary: Tyson may or may not have developed a small obsession with his roommate's hair, and finally being able to see it in the full color spectrum really does not help that.





	Fire

**03/05/2018. Chicago, IL. 7:54am.**

‘Looking forward to today, Tys?’, JT asked when Tyson dropped into the seat beside him at breakfast. They had flown into Chicago late the night before and Tyson was still feeling a little jetlagged. He rubbed one hand over his face before realising his roommate was waiting for an answer.

 

‘Yeah, the Blackhawks, _awesome’_ , he replied, taking a sip of water. ‘Can’t _wait_ to see those guys.’

 

JT smiled slightly, just a hint of an upward tilt at the corners of his lips. ‘I meant the glasses, not the game.’

 

Ah. That. Tyson had forgotten about that. Apparently, word had gotten around to the Avalanche’s PR department that he was colorblind, and some kind souls there had taken it upon themselves to sort out a pair of color corrective glasses so that he could see the world as everyone else did for a change. That and that it would make a good video. A good way to up the social media ratings, he supposed.

 

‘Oh. Oh, yeah. I mean, I guess.’ He shrugged, then grinned. ‘Finally get to see your famous hair.’

 

‘Forget the hair. Try not to be too awed by my beautiful face’, JT deadpanned.

 

Tyson merely laughed a little and bumped their shoulders together, each of them half-waving a hand as Kerfy strolled across with a full plate to join them.

 

**03/05/2018. Chicago, IL. 5:40pm.**

Tyson couldn’t help the laughter that escaped his lips as he stared around at the world- the _real_ world- for the first time. The first thing he noticed were the lights. They were just… Insanely brighter than what he was used to. It was as though someone had taken all of the light in the world and added a whole new dimension to it, and as he pointed it out he could feel his voice wavering between octaves, that same buoyant laughter carrying in it. He blinked rapidly, his eyes suddenly flooded with sensation.

 

JT was a dark figure in the corner of his eye. Tyson could just make out, in his peripheral vision, the patient smile, the hands tucked into the pockets of the long coat JT wore. Tyson turned his gaze to his friend, and-

 

**10/28/2017. Denver, CO. 11:42pm.**

Voices thrummed, and glasses clinked as Tyson made his way from the brightly lit area where people continued to dance back to his seat at the table. Most of the other guys were still seated, Tyson having been the only one wanting to join in with the dancing. Most of them had just wanted to have a few drinks after the game. It had been a tough back to back, losing to Vegas the day before, so much so that not even beating the Blackhawks- and thoughts of the upcoming bye week- had seemed to reinvigorate everyone.

 

Tyson squeezed round the far side of the table and flopped into his chair, absentmindedly wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead and taking a sip of his water. The bar itself was pretty large, yet there were only a few fluorescent lights and most of them were clustered by the dancefloor, so that many patches of the room were shrouded in darkness. The table where his teammates sat was in one of those pockets, and he, at the far end, in the darkest corner.

 

To his left Nail and Nikita were speaking animatedly in Russian. Down the other end of the table, Landy and Mikko were up to some kind of antics, and most of the guys were watching them, including JT, who was seated diagonally opposite him. He could just make out a few of their other teammates- including Nate and Matt- up by the bar.

 

As he watched, his view was obscured by Alex, who was returning from that same direction with a glass in either hand. He dropped into the empty seat across from Tyson, sat one glass down in front of himself, and the other in front of JT.

 

JT raised his eyebrows, then the drink, and gave it a suspicious sniff.

 

He made a face. ‘What the hell is this?’

 

Kerfy grinned. ‘A cocktail.’

 

‘What’s in it?’, JT asked warily, sniffing again.

 

‘Not sure. But it’s called a Ginger Rabbit, I couldn’t not get it for you.’

 

Tyson laughed, half at the name of the drink and half at the disdainful expression on JT’s face.

 

Sven, sitting on JT’s other side, also chuckled, having apparently tuned into the conversation at some point, and asked, eyebrows wagging; ‘Ginger Rabbit, is that your new nickname?’

 

‘Fuck you, it’s not that bright’, JT huffed. He set the glass down.

 

‘It really is, buddy’, Tyson put in. He leaned forwards slightly. ‘It’s like _fire_.’

 

JT turned to meet his gaze. ‘How would you even know? You’re colorblind.’

 

‘Oh, even colorblindness can’t hide that.’

 

Sven and Kerfy chortled as JT rolled his eyes. Yak turned to ask Sven something, and he was pulled into a conversation with the Russians.

 

JT finally took a hesitant sip from his cocktail.

 

‘How is it, Comphy?’, Alex asked.

 

‘Not bad, surprisingly.’

 

‘Good.’ He stood up. ‘I’ve got to take a piss, see you guys in a bit.’

 

Before Kerfy disappeared through the crowd he ruffled one hand through JT’s hair. Tyson, oddly, felt a little jealous, wondering what JT’s hair really did look like to everyone else. He had never really considered it that much before. It was unfair that the others got to see it when he didn’t.

 

JT looked at him over the rim of his glass, almost as though he knew what Tyson was thinking, and gave him a small smile.

 

**03/05/2018. Chicago, IL. 5:41pm.**

Tyson pushed away the thoughts that were stuttering in his brain.

 

‘Look at your hair, look at your hair, buddy’, he said, and both he and JT dissolved into laughter.

 

The two stepped closer to each other while Tyson slid the glasses down his nose to peer over, then pushed them back up. The difference was astonishing. Beneath the shock of red his eyes were a much warmer shade of brown, and Tyson could make out different tones in them even with the distance between them. JT’s hair itself shimmered like fire under the bright lighting. Tyson wondered how it would react to his- or someone’s- fingers running through it, the strands flickering like flames as they were moved about. Mentally shaking himself, Tyson made jokes about fire and tried to ignore the burning in his gut.

 

JT began to walk around the lobby, pointing out different items for Tyson to look at. One which caught his attention was the big red suit framed on the wall of the foyer, coming to a stop beside it.

 

‘Do you see any colors that you’d, like, never seen before?’, he asked.

 

‘Yeah. Your hair and that suit’, Tyson answered, grinning in anticipation of his teammate’s response.

 

‘You have to compare those two, don’t you?’

 

Tyson cackled at JT’s unamused face.

 

**11/20/2017. Denver, CO. 6:40am.**

 

JT waved, mouth half-full of the orange juice he was sipping on, as Tyson walked into the kitchen. He looked too composed for someone who Tyson knew for a fact had gone to bed in the early hours of the morning.

 

‘Hey. How you feeling after last night?’

 

JT swallowed and shrugged. ‘Not too bad. I didn’t drink as much as Kerfy.’

 

‘He up yet?’

 

‘Not a chance.’

 

Tyson realized how dry his mouth suddenly felt and moved towards the fridge for his own drink. As he walked past JT, he impulsively ruffled one hand through his hair.

 

‘Can you really not see what it looks like?’, JT asked, setting the empty carton down behind him, and Tyson paused in his search for juice, half-turning back to face him with his hand still in his friend’s neatly combed locks. JT sounded curious, almost hesitant, but his dark eyes gave little away.

 

Tyson shrugged one shoulder, ran his hand back down the other way. ‘Not really’, he admitted slowly. ‘I don’t get why the other guys find it so funny. It just looks sort of… Dark.’ He was aware that his hand had been in JT’s hair for an uncomfortably long time now, yet JT was merely smiling, despite the goosebumps Tyson could feel raised on the back of his neck.

 

‘You’d get it if you could see what it really looks like. It’s pretty… Fiery.’

 

Tyson shrugged again, dropping his hand quickly and turning back to the fridge.

 

**03/05/2018. Chicago, IL. 5:44pm.**

Tyson continued pointing out colors, feeling strangely proud of himself. He kept looking back to JT, in part for confirmation of what he was seeing and in part because seeing JT in this new spectrum was interesting.

 

He watched as JT’s finger traced a color, automatically answered ‘Orange, right?’, and his mind raced with-

 

**12/29/2017. Denver, CO. 10:58pm.**

JT had driven Tyson home after the game, and for the whole duration of the ride Tyson had kept his forehead pressed to the window, watching dark shapes coming in and out of focus as they passed streetlamps, and hummed along to the radio, feeling jubilant. Alex had gone out with a few of the other guys, but his two roommates had been tired. Inside the warmth of their home they sat on the couch and Tyson put a movie on, more for background noise while they settled down from the rush of adrenaline that came from winning and being with the team than for any kind of entertainment purposes. Initially, Tyson tried to pay attention. Yet it only took him a few minutes to lose interest. It also didn’t help that JT had decided now was the time to test him on his color blindness.

 

‘Can you really not see this? Why did you even wear it?’, JT laughed, trailing one hand over the arm of the sweater which Tyson had swapped his blazer for upon leaving the rink.

 

‘It’s not invisible, buddy. It’s just all… Fuzzy, sort of. There’s not really a color. Or, they’re just faded, different colors than you must see them. I can see that there’s different ones in there, sort of, but they’re so similar…’ Tyson trailed away as JT nodded.

 

JT’s face was almost awed as he slowly traced his fingers back and forth along the pattern, barely brushing against Tyson’s wrist, a moment longer than necessary. Tyson swallowed and closed his eyes and committed the feeling to memory.

 

**03/05/2018. Chicago, IL. 5:45pm.**

 

Tyson squinted at JT’s phone case from behind the lenses.

 

‘I don’t even know what color that is’, he said. ‘Red?’ It was kind of mind-blowing, that there could suddenly be new colors. He continued to stare in fascination.

 

‘Yeah, the glasses don’t make you much smarter though, huh?’

 

Tyson looked back up at him with a grin. ‘No, they definitely _don’t_ do that.’

 

A while later, when JT asked him how the experience had been, he wasn’t entirely exaggerating when he answered, mock-serious; ‘Life-changing.’

 

He laughed when JT fixed him with an amused look. Trying to explain what it was like was difficult and he avoided JT’s gaze while he spoke so as to avoid losing his train of thought.

 

**01/17/2018. Denver, CO. 9:57am.**

 

‘It’s just weird thinking there’s colors you haven’t seen.’

 

‘Maybe there’s colors _you_ haven’t seen’, Tyson countered. He didn’t really get why JT seemed so fascinated with his color blindness. Half the time he thought it was just an excuse to chirp him about something. Especially after Nate and The Other Tyson spent an entire ten minutes attempting to convince him that their jerseys had green on them rather than burgundy.

 

‘Yeah’, JT replied. ‘Exactly. It’s weird to think about. We think we see the world the right way, you know, only we don’t really _know_ that.’

 

Tyson laughed. ‘Getting pretty deep there, buddy.’

 

JT shrugged. He was just coming back from injured reserve, and while he was no longer wearing a no-contact jersey, coach had him sitting on the bench for a couple of the drills. Tyson had joined him. Although he still saw JT every day, he had missed him in a way when he had been injured, and it felt good to have him back.

 

‘I just think it’s interesting, like… You look at things differently.’

 

‘I’m not… Not seeing colors doesn’t give me weird… I don’t know, zen powers or anything, Comph.’

 

‘You look at me differently.’ JT’s voice was so low Tyson wasn’t sure he’d heard right. He glanced up and down the bench before replying. Only a few other guys were hanging around there, and nobody was listening, focusing on the drills the other lines were running.

 

‘What?’, Tyson demanded, shaking his head. ‘Is this because of your hair? Don’t be stupid, you know we’re just joking when-’ JT was often sharper with his remarks than a lot of the guys were. And his hair really didn’t feature in their conversations all that often.

 

‘I didn’t mean- not that. I mean…’ JT cut him off, apparently struggling for words.

 

Tyson blinked at him. ‘What?’

 

‘Come on Josty, let’s go!’, Gabe was yelling at him from the ice.

 

Tyson jumped the boards, glancing back over his shoulder at JT in confusion. He looked back at him in silence. Tyson felt his heart quicken slightly and did his best to ignore it.

 

**05/03/2018. Chicago, IL. 5:46pm.**

JT told him they were keeping the glasses, and Tyson couldn’t help smiling and looking into JT’s face as he asked; ‘So how do I look?’

 

JT muttered; ‘I don’t know… I mean, like as good as you can look.’

 

And Tyson smirked. ‘So like it’s not that good?’

 

‘It’s fine, yeah’, JT said evenly, and laughed, and Tyson could suddenly see this new color- the red he’d never known- tingeing JT’s cheeks slightly. He was sure his own were the same. He bit at his lips, trying to play it off. JT thought he looked good. He knew it. He had seen those eyes drop like that before.

 

**02/06/2018. Denver, COL. 5:11pm.**

JT’s face peered up at Tyson from his phone. He looked confused, which was understandable, given that, firstly, Tyson was in the next room, and secondly, he was holding the screen so close to his face he was pretty sure all Comphy could see would be his nose hair. Which was not the best image to be woken up from a pre-game nap for.

 

‘Tys?’ He sounded tired still. Tyson tried not to think about the things that TJ’s husky voice did to his body. ‘What’s going on?’

 

‘I… sort of need your help.’

 

JT raised his eyebrows. ‘With what?’

 

Tyson slowly lowered the phone. ‘I can’t remember if you said this shirt was green or red.’

 

After a solid ten seconds of laughter, JT said; ‘It’s red.’

 

‘Thanks. I thought so, I just didn’t want to get out there and- you know.’ Tyson shrugged, although he’d lifted the cell back to his face and JT couldn’t see his shoulders. ‘Anyway, think I might wear this tonight. You getting ready soon? I didn’t wake you up, did I?’

 

‘Nah, I’ve been up for a while. Just about to take a shower.’

 

‘I think Kerfy’s in the bathroom.’

 

‘Oh.’ JT sighed. ‘Guess I’ll stay here for a while then.’ Tyson saw him reaching to end the call, then hesitating. He looked down, away from the camera. ‘You should wear the shirt, by the way. You look good.’

 

‘Thanks, buddy. See you.’ The call ended, and Tyson grinned dumbly at his phone for a moment before putting it on top of the dresser and shaking himself.

 

**05/03/2018. Chicago, IL. 5:27pm.**

‘Hey man.’ JT leaned in until he was touching Tyson’s arm. ‘You nervous?’

 

‘About glasses?’, Tyson laughed. ‘Nah.’

 

‘No, I mean… You know…’

 

They were stood much too close in the elevator. It was a fairly big, fancy one; this hotel certainly wasn’t cheap. It didn’t feel uncomfortable, however, to have JT leaning against his arm.

 

Tyson shook his head, turned to look at his linemate with an amused smirk. ‘I do not know.’

 

JT shrugged and sighed. ‘Me either.’ He seemed nervous, only Tyson wasn’t sure why, and they would be with the PR people any moment, so there was no time to delve into that.

 

‘You okay, JT?’, he asked instead, as the elevator stopped moving.

 

‘Yeah. Are you?’

 

The doors opened. ‘I’m good. Okay, maybe a little nervous.’

 

JT reached up and squeezed his arm with one hand before entering the foyer, not looking at his friend. ‘Right. Let’s do this.’

 

‘Right’, Tyson echoed softly as he followed.

 

**09/03/2018. Denver, CO. 1:30am.**

They had just made it home from their road trip, and instead of doing the sensible thing and going straight to sleep like Alex, Tyson and JT decided to sit up watching TV on the couch, trying to shake off any lingering jet lag. Tyson reached down the side of the armrest, to where he had dumped his bag, and pulled the case with his color-correcting glasses out. He hadn’t had much chance to wear them since the day he first tried them. There had been games and practice, and he wasn’t about to go flying up and down the ice with tinted glasses on under his visor. Even in practice he didn’t think that would be allowed.

 

‘Hey’, JT said, jerking Tyson from his thoughts. ‘Really glad you kept those glasses.’

 

He was sitting at the other end of the couch from Tyson, but their arms were brushing where they dangled between them, and their bodies were angled towards each other. A year ago, Tyson might have found that a little weird, even uncomfortable. Now, however, he had grown used to the little touches between them when they sat at home together.

 

‘Yeah?’, Tyson smirked at him. JT looked back with a straight face for a few seconds before breaking into a grin.

 

‘They suit you.’

 

‘Thanks.’ Tyson could feel his cheeks heating up slightly. ‘So does your hair. Suit you, I mean.’ He had intended it as a sarcastic comeback, only it didn’t exactly come out that way.

 

‘I’m… Glad you like it, I guess.’ JT spoke haltingly, and again his dark eyes betrayed nothing. But Tyson could see the red flush.

 

Tyson raised one hand towards the color, stopping a few inches from JT’s face. JT followed the progress with his eyes, and now he saw a hint of panic there. He stopped.

 

‘Your cheeks- they’re red’, he said by way of explanation.

 

JT’s gaze travelled slowly from Tyson’s hand to his face. He didn’t say anything.

 

‘Like your hair.’ Tyson laughed a little, nervous. He wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. All of a sudden, he thought that he maybe got what JT had meant in the elevator the other day.

 

His hand still hung in the air between them. Aside from the quiet music playing dimly on the TV, some action-movie song which seemed wildly out of place, the entire place was silent. Tyson could hear JT breathing, could see his chest quickly rising and falling.

 

‘Tys…’, JT said quietly.

 

‘Hmm?’

 

‘Tys… Can you take the glasses off?’

 

Tyson blinked, drawing his hand back. ‘Why?’

 

‘Just-’ JT sighed. ‘They’re slipping down your nose, and I’m not sure how to do this without them getting in the way.’

 

‘Do what?’

 

JT leaned forward and kissed him.

 

When he pulled away, Tyson laughed; ‘Seems like we worked out how to do it with them on okay. Just have to remember to tilt my head a little more.’

 

‘Yeah.’ JT tilted his own head, as though thinking hard about something. ‘Maybe they really did make you smarter.’

 

He looked pleased with himself. Tyson laughed and opened his mouth to point out that JT’s face was as red as his hair now, only to find himself silenced by JT’s lips again. Which- he would allow it.

 

Tyson closed his eyes, giving himself over entirely to the sensations of sound and taste and touch. He didn’t want it to end. He wanted more than just these- these brief moments.

 

At some point in the night he lost his glasses.

 

‘Do you remember where you put them?’, JT asked, blinking up at Tyson as he rushed about the room, searching. They had fallen asleep together on the couch. If Alex had come home, he hadn’t disturbed them, and Tyson was mentally bracing himself for the chirping that was sure to come from him if he had seen them.

 

‘No idea.’ He peered down the back of the couch. ‘Where the fuck did they go?’

 

‘Come on, we have to get ready soon.’ JT frowned at him. ‘I’m sure we’ll find them later.’

 

Tyson sighed. ‘Yeah. Maybe Kerfy took them.’

 

They showered and dressed swiftly. There was still no sign of Alex as they got in the car. Part of Tyson was glad of that; it made it less likely he had seen them. The other part, however, wished he had taken the glasses, simply so that Tyson would have an idea of where they actually were.

 

‘Hey’, JT said as the pulled into the arena carpark. They had talked idly about different topics for most of the drive, avoiding the pressing conversations that Tyson supposed were due.

 

‘Yeah?’

 

‘It’ll be okay, Tys.’

 

He didn’t think JT meant the glasses this time.

 

Tyson smiled. ‘I know. And I suppose losing them isn’t even all that bad. So long as I have you to help me coordinate my outfits.’

 

JT grinned at him. ‘Hmm. Waking me up to Facetime me again? Think I’ll pass on that one.’

 

‘Won’t need to Facetime you if you’re right there.’

 

JT blinked slowly. ‘But you Facetimed me when I was right there last time? You were just in the room next door.’

 

‘Yeah, but you won’t _be_ in the room next door’, Tyson said, exasperated.

 

‘Oh.’ JT paused for a moment, still looking out the windscreen, then the corners of his mouth turned up. Tyson wasn’t sure, but he thought he was blushing. ‘Oh. Okay.’

 

Glancing around the parking lot, only to find it deserted, Tyson pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then ducked out of the car. ‘Come on. Let’s see if Kerfy’s inside already.’

 

His teammate/roommate/outfit-co-ordinator/maybe-boyfriend sat in shock for a while, and Tyson waited patiently until he scrambled up and out the other side.

 

**03/14/2018. Denver, CO. Late.**

‘Hey.’ Tyson turned on his side to face JT. ‘You looked good tonight.’

 

‘Thanks. I picked it out myself.’

 

Tyson fixed him with a mock-glare, only it didn’t really work out as well as he’d hoped, since he couldn’t stop smiling.

 

‘I can’t believe Yak had your glasses. He looked like he was tripping.’

 

Tyson rolled his eyes. ‘He said he found them on top of the fridge. Bet you _any_ amount of money Kerfy put them up there.’ He paused. ‘Unless _you_ did it.’

 

‘You really think I would?’

 

‘I don’t know, man. Maybe you don’t want me seeing your _beautiful_ hair anymore.’

 

‘Stop calling it beautiful.’

 

‘Like _fire_ ’, Tyson whispered, running one hand through it. His eyelids drooped. He was aware that it was pretty late, although he wasn’t entirely sure of the time, and he’d had a few drinks when, really, he wasn’t supposed to. Still, it had been his birthday, and it had been fun.

 

JT slung an arm across his face, blocking Tyson’s view of it, and he frowned. ‘Go to sleep now, Tys. We have a game tomorrow.’

 

‘ _Fire.’_

_‘Sleep.’_

_‘… Fire.’_

 

‘Okay. Fire.’

 

Tyson smiled and burrowed his face into JT’s neck, muttering random nonsense to himself. As the night engulfed him and he fell fast asleep, the last thing he felt was JT's arms around him.


End file.
